


Scales and Feathers

by Danesincry



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: "Blessed" is used a lot to explain whats up with Lance, Alien Biology, Alien Culture, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BTW it'll take a little bit to get to relationships, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Cuban Lance (Voltron), F/M, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance (Voltron)-centric, Lance has a really big shocker, Lance has really good senses, Lance is a twin, Lance is very dependent even if he doesn't tell people his secrets, Lance legit has to have a flock/group family thing to cope, Lance's father was part merfolk and part bird people, Lance's parents and adult family know whats up but the kids don't, M/M, Mates, Not a lot of romance at first, Other, Please trust me that it'll pick up, Recovery, Second puberty, Starts off with major backstory chapter, Temporary Mute, gender fluid pidge, interest leads to fascination leading to crushes and then relationships, langst(slight), not even Lance or his twin, slow-ish build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-31
Updated: 2018-10-02
Packaged: 2019-07-04 21:31:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15849759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Danesincry/pseuds/Danesincry
Summary: Lance grew up with being told that he and his twin sister, Jessica, were blessed. They were never told that his real father had come from another planet and died before his mother could give birth to two alien children.Lance grew up with beautiful scales growing out of his skin and having to hide them by carefully removing them. He also grew up with some type of form growing under his skin, never breaking out to what they were actually meant for. Lance was lied to his whole life and it has consequences when Lance goes to space to find out that him and his sister were born from a different man, and Alien man from a planet that was home to two odd but beautiful species that lived in harmony.Never did Lance expect to be thrown into a second puberty and become a fully fledged adult finally. He also didn't expect to catch the attention of two of the other Paladins in the process.--This is very lance-centric and the first chapter was actually me writing ideas then putting actual text in [ and ]. I think its going to turn into an actual structured text afterwards.But seriously guys, the romance is going to come a few chapters late because of what I planned. So please bear with me!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, that's the actual end of the chapter. Tadaaa! Cliff hanger?
> 
> But heres the family tree at the end of the chapter:
> 
> (- grandparents, _ aunts/momma mcclain, * siblings of lance/lance, ^ lance's niece/nephew, + cousins)
> 
> \- Lance's grandparents  
> _ Lance's Mother and Lance's Human father  
> * Katrina 28  
> ^ Daniel 8  
> ^ Alejandro 8  
> * Melissa 25  
> ^ Alexandria 6  
> * Veronica 19  
> * Jessica 17  
> * Lance 17  
> * Philippe 14  
> _ Mabel (Aunt) and her husband Marco  
> \+ Justin 20  
> \+ Lily 18  
> \+ Sierra 15  
> _ Margaret (Aunt) and her husband Damien  
> \+ Macy 18  
> \+ Kourtney 17  
> \+ Austin 13
> 
> Sorry if that's confusing. But this is when Lance leaves Earth (For the ages)

Lance wasn't the type to truly judge people based off of looks. What the eye sees can be deceiving. 

A flower could be a beautiful red and inviting, but when you pick it up it will attack you with poison. And a ravenous looking animal could be the sweetest creature you could meet.

So Lance didn't survive off of how people look. He relied on his other senses and what type of energy a person gave off.

Take the same red flower. Lance would get close enough for him to smell the putrid smell of the poison and he could feel no thorns to defend the stem. He could sense the anxiety and smell the fear of the animal, and approach it differently and allow it to come to him and show it's true colors.

That's another reason why Lance had always kept up his looks and facade.

Lance grew up in a large household in Cuba. His family owned a pretty big farm that actually did well. He had five siblings, including his twin sister, and three nephews and one niece. His grandparents and two of his aunts and their husband and children lived with them in their large house.

Having so many people around made Lance feel safe, but the outside world made him feel off.

Lance wasn't normal.

Ever since he was young he knew something was wrong. His skin would inflame and get irritated, and eventually he had two hard out if place bones growing on the insides of his shoulder blades. But when he turned 8, he started to grow blue scales. They were all shades of blue, the darker ones clustering near the middle and fanning into lighter blues. They mainly appeared on his neck, cheeks, shoulders, elbows and forearms, his back, and sometimes his legs. Once in a while he would get a teal scale and it was beautiful.

And with the scales and growths, his senses sharpened and he could start smelling emotions and feel things about people that others never noticed.

[Lance stood in his bathroom, looking at himself in the mirror.

His skin was covered in freckles, above his tan skin. On his cheeks and jaw was beautiful blue scales. He brushed his finger over them, amazed at them. He didn’t understand why they were growing in, especially when his siblings and family members didn’t have them. Jessica didn’t have them yet, so he was entranced as he ran his fingers over them.

“Ah, Lancito.” He heard his mother’s footsteps before her soft voice called for him and she appeared behind him. “Your scales are coming in.”

“Mama,” Lance started. “Why do I have them?”

“Oh, my baby.” His mother kissed his head and ran her hand over his cheek as she crouched to his eye level. “You’ve been blessed. This blessing can’t be told to anyone outside of the family, okay? It makes you special. You and Jessica are my special babies. Never think that your scales are bad.”]

His twin, Jessica, had the exact same thing happening to her but at 10. Her scales were more of a darker purples and reds. It scared the two and their siblings, but their parents reassured them they were fine and everything would be okay. They told them to keep it a secret and showed them how to safely remove visible scales without harming themselves. Lance started to call it preening and look care of helping Jessica out whenever he could. And once his started to appear on his neck, he let his hair grow out slightly and left the scales right against his hairline alone.

In a box in his childhood room, Lance had a box of his and his sister's old scales. Either scales that fell out themselves for the seasons, or ones they preened. 

[“Lan!” 

Lance turned to see Jessica running up to him. She had a bright grin on her face, and Lance felt a swell of excitement flood into the room. It almost tasted like cookies almost.

“Yeah, Jess?” Lance smiled back and sat up from where he was laying on his bunk bed. It took Jessica about two seconds to scale the bunk beds, jumping up and grabbing onto the top bunk and flinging herself up.

“I got my scales! And I can feel the weird bones on my back!” Jess lifted up her long hair to show off the patch of scales that spread across her neck. The purple ones were near the top and they went out to a beautiful maroon color.

“Woah! They’re beautiful, Jess!” Lance grinned.

“Mama wanted you to teach me how to take them out.” Jessica grinned at him and Lance nodded. He grabbed the box that he has already sat on his bed and opened it to show his own scales.

“Let me show you real quick.” Lance held up his hair and showed her how to carefully remove the scale from where it was in his skin. It slipped out easily and he smiled at her.

Jessica gave a concentrated face before she tried it herself and grinned when the got it out.

“Yes!” She grinned and held it up. She then turned to Lance and dropped the scale into the box. “You want to see who can get the most scales out in a minute. Restrictions are no pain and bleeding, and none of the hidden scales.”

“Deal!”]

And because of this event, Lance had to put on a mask. For his family, and for the others in his small town. No one could know the truth of the McClain’s having odd children. No one could see the boy with self esteem problems. The boy who cracked under pressure to help support his growing family when needed. He needed to protect them.

[“So, do you ever wonder why you have scales?”

Lance looked up from his book to see his younger brother Philippe on his bed. Lance was sitting at his writing desk, trying to finish a small writing assignment for his class.

“I don’t try to think about it.” Lance frowned. “Mama just said it was a blessing so I just try to not think too hard. I have more important things to think of.”

“Yeah, but it's kinda weird.” Phillippe sat up more. “Its not normal.”

“I don’t know, okay.” Lance slammed a hand onto his desk and he could see his brother jump and he took a deep breath and let it out. Philippe didn’t mean harm, Lance knew this. He was only ten. It’s not Lance’s fault. It’s not Philippe’s fault.

“Look… I’m sorry.” Lance looked to his younger brother. “I love you, but this is a sore subject. Me and Jessica are looked at differently and Mama and Papa already have to deal with so much from Tias and Tios. Abuelita and Mama talk about how much pressure it is on her for having blessed children.”

Philippe bit his lip and got up to walk over to Lance.

“I know this doesn’t help much… but Jessica is probably the only one that knows you’re stressed. With your weird twin connection. But if you act like you have, so confident and like one of those popular boys in movies, you’ll fool everyone. Don’t let anyone get in your way, Lance. You’ll reach the stars one day.”

Lance smiled at his baby brother and reached up and ruffled his hair.]

So when he turned 13, Lance and his older sister Veronica were sent to America to join one of the greatest militaries the world had to offer. The Garrison.

They had heard how well Lance was at his grades and physical tests, and how he passed his military exam with the best grades they had seen in years. They gave the McClain’s an offer. Him and his also talented sister would be taken in on a scholarship and would become defenders and the family would have protection for their farm when the seasons are harsh on them.

Lance didn't like being separated from his family, especially his twin Jessica. The first night away he cried in Veronica’s arms as she whispered that everything would be okay.

[“My boy! I’m so proud of you!” Lance could feel his mother’s arms wrap around him.

Lance stood with Veronica as his whole family stood in front of him. He was leaving with Veronica to go to America, and it filled him with excitement and dread. How would he deal without Jessica? Without his family? By now he could tell that whatever he and his sister were wasn’t natural and wasn’t correct. Something was wrong.

“Mama, I’m going to miss you.” Lance whispered as he hugged her tightly. “I love you, Mama.”

“Oh, I love you too.” She kissed his forehead and let go. 

After Lance and Veronica had said their goodbyes, and a small present from Jessica given, they boarded the plane and started their journey to a new life. And if you asked him, he never curled up in Veronica’s arms on the plane and cried as he could feel the connections to his family weaken and disappear.]

Then Lance definitely had to put on a persona. He made himself seem like a strong willed charmer. He tried to make himself seem unbreakable. Yes, he was naturally a competitive goof that just wanted to have fun, but he never wanted to show it or mesh that with his outside persona.

But when he met Hunk, everything had changed.

[Lance walked into his new dorm and looked around. The room was plain and looked like someone had already made the right side their own.

He walked into the room more and he was hit with a soft smell of food and homely love. It made him smile as he sat his bags onto the bed. This was his new home, and whoever was going to live on the right side seemed to have the most calming and nice aura he had ever met. His energy clung to everything he owned.

“Oh! You’re already here!” A voice called out from behind him and Lance turned to see a boy standing in the door, holding something that looked like a container of cookies. “I was uh… going to surprise you with a welcome gift. We don’t get many transfers. Especially from other countries. I’m Hunk, by the way!”

“The name is Lance. Lance McClain. I think you know this, but I’m from Cuba. I am a heartbreaker and I’m a lady’s man.” Lance smiled at Hunk, who chuckled and sat down the cookies.

“It’s nice to meet you, Lance. I was really glad they finally decided to give me a roommate. It can get… pretty lonely here. I’m so used to my moms around me. But I made you these.” 

Something about that hit Lance in his core. This kid who he had just met was so nice to him already, and he didn’t even know Lance.

“Why thanks.” Lance smiled and stepped forward. “You seem like a really nice guy. I’m glad I was paired with you. I… really miss my family already. Even if my sister Veronica is here with me.”

“Dude, it’s fine to be sad. All of us miss our families. I hope we can become one.”]

Hunk was kind and had the best aura around him. He smelled like cookies and food constantly, and it was the best to Lance. He reminded Lance of Jessica. A warm spirit that just wanted the best. 

Lance stayed with Hunk as they went through the middle school time. He bonded with Hunk and felt like he was part of another family with Veronica coming to check on him. It helped to ease the pain of leaving his family behind in Cuba.

[Hunk was sitting with Lance in front of a TV, controllers in hand. They were playing a shooter game, and Lance was beating Hunk by a long shot. Get it? Long shot.

There was a knock on the door before it slid in.

“Guess who found some ropa vieja and Jamaican Kola!!” Veronica called out as she walked in with a bag and a box.

“Woah! Really?!” Lance paused their game and shot up to grab at the bags that Veronica had.

“Yeah! And stop that! Let me situate in and then we can eat!” Veronica scolded Lance and swatted his hands away. “You fussy child.”

“What’s ropa veehah?” Hunk watched the two siblings in amusement and got up.

“Ropa vieja.” Lance corrected. “And it's basically stewed beef that you shred and it had vegetables. Mama used to make a stew and whatever was left over would be turned into ropa vieja. It’s great. Is it like how Mama used to make it?”

“Yeah. She sent me spices to make it and some of the dry herbs from the garden her and Daniel started. Apparently Katrina got her little gremlin into gardening.” Veronica brought out the dishes that were still obviously hot and sat them on their mini counter.

“Oh! I’m so glad!” Lance bounced in his place and watched as his sister brought another box out. “But what’s that?”

“Mama sent a box of gifts and letters from the family. Alexandria is old enough to write so they wanted her to get a chance to write to her Tio Lance.” Veronica passed him the somewhat large box and Lance grinned.

“That’s cool. I’m guessing Daniel is your oldest nephew and Alexandria is your niece? The one that was born a few years ago, right?” Hunk tried and took the plate that Veronica handed him.

“Mmhm! He’s my sister Katrina’s kid. One of two twins. Alexandria is Melissa’s.” Lance took the plate of ropa vieja and sat down with the package. It was already opened for his convenience and he flipped the flaps open to read the letters. There was one from each sibling back at home, Katrina and Melissa deciding to write one letter together. Philippe’s was chicken scratch like always. His two Tia’s, Mabel and Margaret had written letters with their husbands. Even his Abuelos had written him letters. He picked up his parent’s letters and Jessica’s and smiled.

“So, what’s in this?” Hunk asked politely in between his bites.

“Beef, potato, peas, carrots, bell peppers, chile peppers, corn. I added beans into it and of course the rice.” Veronica smiled and Hunk hummed in approval. 

Lance dug around in the box and found small little trinkets his family made him, and then a box that felt different to the others. He lifted it out and inspected the lavender box. He popped the lid off and his eyes widened at the contents.

In the box was Jessica’s scales. They were beautiful and shining in the light. It looks like she polished them just for Lance. He could feel himself tear up as he could smell that her scent was the thickest there.

“Lance, buddy. You alright?” Hunk looked over, confused and worried.

“My twin, Jessica, she sent something personal and I didn’t expect her to send this…” Lance smiled and wiped his eyes.

“Did she send you scales from fish again?” Veronica leaned over. 

“Yeah.” He nodded and looked up at Hunk. “Jessica collects fish scales. She loves them.”

Hunk hummed and nodded. “My cousins collect animal teeth and dried flowers. I think its cool how she sent you them.”

“Thanks, buddy.” Lance smiled. He felt bad for lying, but his secret was an important secret.]

As Lance felt more comfortable around his classmates and he was starting to understand them.

Well, all but one.

Keith Kogane was an odd one. He shared statistics with the boy and he was silent and always so distant even though lance could feel his loneliness. But one thing that he noticed was how competitive the boy could get. Lance knew the boy didn't see it in himself, he didn't act completely on it, but Lance wanted to get rid of the horrible taste of loneliness from the boy. 

So he tried to push the boy to compete with him.

Lance had tried to openly say he would compete with him, and try to poke at him to get him to react, try and socialize. He would try his best on tests, but overall ignore Lance. And it bothered him. 

[“Ahw yeah! I got an A on the flying exam!” Lance cheered and sent a grin to one of the girls nearby. “Well girls, they call me the tailor because I thread the needle.”

The girls next to them let out small laughs and shook their heads, used to the wink and the flirty jokes sent to them. They all knew it was all for fun and games. They knew that Lance had eyes on his studies, even if occasionally he dated a girl or two. The relationships always ended peacefully for some reason. They just understood his reasons and the stress he was under. Not that they would ever tell anyone. The girls actually respected Lance here. He respected them also.

“I got a 99.” Keith spoke up and Lance turned to him and groaned. 

“A 98. But I’ll get you next time, Kogane!” Lance let out a fake irritated huff and Hunk chuckled and pat his back.

Lance felt good on the inside being noticed by the strange boy. He smelt like burned grass and roses. Two contradicting smells that went so well together. Lance wanted to check the boy for scales, because Keith felt light a blessing. Like Jessica. And it slowly drove Lance crazy.

“Sure, sure.” And Keith was back to brooding in the window.]

Something was wrong with Keith and Lance didn't know what it was. It felt like what Jessica smelt like, but different. He wanted to understand him.

When Pidge showed up, he gave him an insider on Keith.

Shirogane had taken the boy in years ago, and when Shirogane disappeared, his temper had gotten worse. It wasn't good because the boy's loneliness had gotten worse and he had a sense of bitterness around him. Lance hated it.

Months later, Keith got kicked out of the Garrison. Lance felt suddenly empty at the loss of a drive. He made sure to buffer his skills and just try to resonate with Hunk and Pidge. Make his new family stronger and he finally got Pidge to open up and have fun with them.

[“Hey! Pidge! Wait up!” 

Lance could see Pidge stop in the distance, turning to wait for the Cuban boy to catch up. And once he did, he threw his arm around the small boy.

“Hey, Lance. Did you just get done failing your flight test again?” Pidge joked with him.

“Nah. Just got out of statistics. You know, I really hate how Kogane is gone. I’ve lost my drive.” Lance complained.

“I… can tell.” Pidge rolled his eyes. “Anyways. Did you need something or you going to just stop me from going to my Calculus class?” 

“Oh! Right. So me and Hunk were wondering if you wanted to play Smash Bros after classes end? We just unlocked Pitt and Dark Pitt!” Lance grinned.

“Sure. I just got to drop my stuff off at my room and I’m down. Is your sister going to bring us our contraband of sugary soda and chips?” Pidge grinned back at him.

“Of course! Veronica always comes in clutch!” 

“Then I’m in.”]

Then, Shiro fell from the sky.

Lance had felt there was something wrong a minute before impact, and he was on edge as he watched the pod fall. It was like the world was ending and being reborn for him. The whole experience of becoming a paladin and going into space to fight creatures was so surreal to him.

[“The recordings keep mentioning some type of Voltron thing. It’s so weird.” Pidge explained as he held up a graph. “I don’t get it. Is it a weapon?”

“Who knows.” Lance shrugged and looked up to the sky.

He felt like there was too much gravity on him. Lance didn’t understand what was going on, but his hairs were standing up on his neck and he felt sick. Like he was in fight or flight mode.

Lance looked away from the sky to join the conversation again. But that was when something suddenly crashed into the Earth and send them all stumbling back.

“Woah!” Lance cried out as he recovered first and shot towards the edge. “What was that?!”

“Who knows!” Pidge grabbed his things and shoved them in his bag.

After that, the group ran into Keith and Shiro. The group ran off and to a shack and Lance could feel something pulling him nearby.

“Guys. I think I know where that is.” Lance spoke up and the others looked at him.

“What… do you mean?” Shiro spoke up, making Lance become rigid.

“I’ve seen land formations like this.” He pointed to the map. “It's not far.”

And thus, Lance let his body lead his body into the desert and to a cave. He could feel the pulsing energy and his hand gripped onto the bag of Jessica’s scales that sat in his pocket. He mumbled a small blessing as he touched the walls and it crumbled in. 

A large blue lion sat in the new room and everyone crowded around.

“That thing… it’s calling me.”]

All of Lance’s life had lead up to him finding the Blue Lion. It all lead up to him sitting in space, in his bedroom inside of a castle.

And that’s where he was now.

Lance stood in front of his mirror, slowly sliding out the scales that grew on his face. He could feel the uneasy pinch of them disconnecting to whatever held them in as he lightly tugged. 

“Dios…” Lance hissed as he dropped the slightly bloody scale into the canister he was using to store his scales.

His room was rather clean if you asked him. He kept it clean and hid away the things that helped him take care of his scales and pain from his back in a hidden area under one of the metal plates in his room. He took out the screws and made sure to put a rug over it so if anyone came in, they wouldn’t notice.

There was a light knock on his door and he let out a string of curses as he dropped the new scale into the canister.

“Coming!” Lance called out and rushed to the door, trying to wipe away the small amount of blood that was starting to come out with each scale.

The door slipped open to reveal Coran, holding a box and looking cheery.

“Hello Lance!” Coran grinned at him. “I’ve come to switch out the soaps and make sure the mice didn’t get into them again.”

“Oh. Yeah. Sorry, I forget that was today.” Lance laughed and backed up to let the Altean in.

“Oh, don’t worry about it! Sometimes you forget things!” Coran headed straight to the bathroom and Lance panicked slightly because oh god, he left outhis canister.

“Hey Coran, I left a few things out, let me put them away!” Lance tried to run after him, but the man brushed him off. 

“No it’s fine don’t worry about it my-” Coran suddenly stopped his sentence and Lance let out an ungodly noise in embarrassment. “Lance, why do you have Hafmey scales?”

“I’m sorry, what scales?” Lance walked into the bathroom to see Coran inspecting the canister. He lifted one scale up and looked at it closely.

“Hafmey scales. Or what you humans call, Merfolk I believe Pidge told me.” Coran flipped the blue scale over to inspect it more.

“Oh, I uh… found them laying around.” Lance lied.

“These have fresh blood on them. Lance… These are quite rare to get ahold of this many. They don’t shed this much scales at once. And these look new.” Coran looked up to Lance. “My boy… are you half Hafmey?”

“I... No I’m not!” Lance snorted. “I… I am… I… don’t know.” 

“Come here, my boy.” Coran waved him over. “Off with your shirt.”

Lance hesitated before taking his shirt off, revealing his newly grown scales and the weird bones in his back. Coran took a few minutes to feel his back and scales, inspecting him.

“You’re half Hafmey and half Zog… but why was one of you doing on Earth?” Coran mumbled. “But you have human parents… Maybe your father was a Hafmey-Zog and your mother was human. That would explain why you don’t have exposed wings.”

“Zog?” Lance questioned.

“These growths on your back are wings, my boy. They’ve been hurting, yes?” Coran asked and Lance nodded. “Well, I believe we’re getting close to the planet where Hafmey and Zog live on. They have a small population of half-breeds that live happily together. You’re getting older so your body wants to trigger itself, but it cannot without a full grown adult of either species. That means your father must have died before you were born.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance gets to understand some of the stuff that is going on.
> 
> Shiro smells there is something wrong.
> 
> Hunk is pure.
> 
> Pidge is suspicious and caring.
> 
> Allura and Coran just want the best for Lance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is at the beginning of the chapters guys lol.
> 
> But yeah, I maybe left this off at another cliffhanger. Not really. More of a "Woah whats gonna haPpEn!" 
> 
> Lance and Keith ARE on talking terms. Since this isn't following parts of canon, basically remove the mermaid episode and put some other mission in, and give Lance and Keith having a good conversation about how they actually feel about each other and how Keith may have actually liked him once and BAM you got context and them at least withstanding eachother in the same room. WOW. Should probably put that in.

Lance stared at Coran for a second before he shakes his head.

“No! That can’t be. My Papa is alive! On earth!” Lance tried to deny what Coran had said.

“My boy. It’s okay to deny it at first, but I’m telling the truth. Sometimes we are lied to to keep us safe.” Coran put his hand onto Lance’s shoulder. “I promise you we can help you. Do you want to go to the medbay and we can run a diagnostic on you?”

Lance slowly nodded and reached his arms out to Coran, who accepted the boy in his arms. Lance sniffled as he hugged onto Coran, almost like his life depended on it. He could feel Coran’s hands moving across his back, trying to sooth the young boy. After a few minutes of solacing, Lance slowly let go and looked up to Coran’s eyes.

Coran smelt like cinnamon and spices. It was odd, knowing that Coran was very sweet and caring. But Lance liked his smell. It fit his almost grandmother or loving feeling well.

“Let’s go test my body.” Lance spoke out.

“Let’s go.” Coran put his hand on Lance’s elbow and lead him out.

As they walked through the castle, Lance thought of everything that has happened within the last few months. It was odd. His whole life seemed to be like a pre-chosen adventure that he had no say in. Lance wondered if he tried to stray from his path, if it would just yank him back into place.

“Lance,” Coran started. 

“Yes?” Lance broke his thought to reply, looking up.

“Do you want to tell the Princess? She will need to know so she can arrange for everything to be ready when we get there. The other four do not have to know yet.” Coran turned his gaze from the hallway to Lance.

“Yeah… it’ll be better if she knew. It would help a lot.” Lance nodded and allowed Coran to open the door for him.

When Lance entered, he recognized the room as a more fancied up version of the room the Paladins found the Alteans in. It just had more privacy and counters in it. There was also screens on the walls. Lance had wondered if there was any hidden compartments anywhere.

“Alright… I’m going to bring a pod up. You will go in for five minutes and when you come out it’ll tell us everything we need to know.” Coran announced and started to type away on one of the small monitor screens.

It took a minute for Coran to start up the program, but the pod eventually came up and Lance stepped inside. The pod closed and Lance could feel the temperature drop as the pod did also.

Coran watched the pod go down and started the test. He watched as the information came in and kept tabs on Lance’s vitals. He didn’t know if the Altean technology would be good on Humans, so if the boy’s heartbeat dropped or something went haywire he would know. Some of the data that he could see seemed normal, other than a few random strands of information popping up, warning him of dangers. Once the screen made a ping, the pod came back up and Coran opened it so Lance could come out.

Lance was fine when he came out, just rather cold. He let Coran sit him down onto the table and he picked at a loose scale as Coran went to the com system.

“Princess, can you come down to Medbay quickly? Alone.” Coran spoke into the com quietly.

“I will be up in a minute. I’m cooking with Pidge, Shiro, and Hunk. Just let me wash my hands.” Allura responded and the communication ended there.

It didn’t take long for Allura to get there, and when she did, Lance could see she looked concerned. Her hair was put up in a bun and she was wearing her pajamas. Her smell was of old books and fruit. She felt like a powerful being and sometimes it made Lance want to cower in her very presence.

“Is everything okay?” She then saw Lance. “Lance?”

“Hey, Princess.” Lance tried to offer a small smile.

“What’s going on?” Allura shut the door to Medbay behind her and walked into the center of the room.

“I found out that Lance is Hafmey and Zog from his father’s side.” Coran put Lance’s genetics up on a large screen. “You see? He’s also human so he won’t have his tail unless he wills it in water, unlike normal half-breeds between the species.”

“Oh…” Allura looked to Lance. “Did you know about this?”

“No.” Lance answered truthfully. “I was just told I was special as a child. We’re assuming my father died when I was young.”

“Dead?” Allura frowned.

“It’s because he never his his final puberty. Usually Hafmey go through multiple puberties. The one that is like human puberty, then their wings grow in, and then they usually go through a sort of puberty where their wings get their new feathers.” Coran explained. “But Lance was never around an adult to trigger the biological chain. His wings are most likely there, but they aren’t fully there.”

“That’s not good.” Allura sighed. “It’s a good thing we’re near their home planet. I can contact them and see if they would let Lance spend a week down there so he can go through his final pubertys and be healthy.” 

“Allura… we don’t have to.” Lance bit his lip. “I don’t want to be a nuisance.” 

“Lance... My father made me learn about a good amount of other species and cultures out there. I know how painful this must be for you.” She paused and put a hand to Lance’s face, brushing the tips of her fingers over the barely there scars of the scale’s placements. “Wait… how come we don’t see your scales?”

“He removes them carefully.” Coran pulls up a diagram of lance and there's red areas on his neck, face, arms, and parts of his legs. There are a few yellow parts also. “The red parts are where he removes them. It’s starting to damage him. He has obviously done this since he was younger but I assume now that he’s not with his sibling, his body isn’t just healing itself normally.”

Allura’s eyes seemed to be dissecting the diagram before the dissected Lance.

“You can’t do this anymore.” She finalized her decision. “You’re going. They’re wonderful people and they will help.”

“Princess-” Lance tries to interrupt and talk against it, but Allura cuts him off.

“And that is final.” Her face goes dead serious and Lance is afraid for a second that he had done wrong, but Allura then smiled and pats his cheek.

“Alright…” Lacne sighs.

“Good! Now, I’m going to go send a message to planet Amanzi and tell them we are on our way and the situation.” And with that, Allura left the Medbay swiftly.

Lance stared down at the floor once she left and let everything settle in.

He was going to have to accept this. He was going to get his wings and he was going to meet his people. He was going into a culture he had no idea to act in and it was terrifying. How did they all act? How did they speak? Lance had no idea and it scared him. He was also going to have body changes and that was terrifying.

Oh god how was the others going to react?! Will he still be on Voltron-

“Lance, breathe my boy.” Coran had walked up to Lance and put a hand onto his back. “It’s okay.”

Coran was correct. Lance was okay.

“Thank you, Coran. Are you sure you weren’t a dad once? I know you raised Allura but still. You’re like a dad or a fun uncle.” Lance smiled at Coran and accepted a hug that was offered.

“Thank you. And I’m sure if I had a child I would have known.” Coran chuckled. “Now let's get you back to your room.”

Lance nodded and allowed Coran to walk him back after shutting everything down.

 

-

“Hey, Pidge.”

Pidge looked up from their computer to see Shiro standing in their doorway.

“Yeah, Shiro? Need something?” Pidge pushed their glasses closer to their eyes and smiled.

“I want to know more about Lance.” Shiro walked in and awkwardly sat to the side as the door slid shut.

“Lance? Well, it depends on what you need to know.” Pidge shrugged and started to type on their laptop again. It was odd that Shiro had come asking about Lance. Shiro seemed to keep to himself other than Voltron stuff and Keith.

“Is he okay? Like… any medical issues? I saw him walking out of there after Allura was called down.” Shiro was fidgeting in the corner of Pidge’s eyesight.

“Mmm… He has a lot of back pain. That’s really it. I think he has odd scars on his arms and neck if that counts. He says it's from growing up on a farm though.” Pidge shrugged. They never really thought about Lance’s odd medical history. “He might have issues with his skin though. He is obsessed with skin care and never really shows his skin.”

Pidge looked up and leaned on their laptop, watching Shiro as he stared at the wall.

“Would he tell us if there was something else? Like life threatening?” This made Pidge frown.

“You obviously don’t know Lance that well, Shiro.” Pidge sighed and rubbed their forehead. “Lance would probably die before he told us that there was something wrong with him. He doesn’t want people to worry about him. Do you think there’s something wrong with him?”

“I don’t know. But Allura and Coran know.” Shiro slowly got back up.

“And the Medbay has anything that has happened!” Pidge snapped. Shiro suddenly questioning things made Pidge worry. Was their friend actually okay? Was he hiding things from them.

“Exactly.” Shiro smiled. “But I’m going to go see Lance and make sure he’s okay.” 

Pidge waved the Black Paladin away and started to grab their laptop and ran off.

\--

Lance groaned as he jumped onto the counter next to Hunk as Hunk cooked.

“Hunk! Do you think the next planet we go to will have human like food? I’m sick of goo and odd things that don’t like food.” Lance complained. He actually didn’t mind the food half of the time, but he wanted a good burger.

“I don’t know, but that’d be nice.” Hunk sent a small smile to Lance as he tried to read a partially translated recipe.

“What are you making, anyways?” Lance leaned over and his eyes scanned the pages. “And why is it taking you so long to read a single paragraph? Can’t you read that?”

“Some odd dish that Allura suggested I try and make. Said it’d help us get used to some food from a planet we might stop by. And no. Can you?” Hunk sighs.

“Yeah… it’s not that hard.” Lance rolled his eyes then stopped. “Wait we’re stopping somewhere?”

“Something with an A at the beginning. She said it was diplomatic and we needed to stop to get something important.” Hunk shrugged and noticed that Lance was on edge. “What’s wrong, dude?”

“Nothing, really. Just the last time we did that they tried to kill us.” Lance faked that his reason was why he was on edge. Allura was trying to get him ready for food that he’ll have to eat for a while.

“Well, since you can read it, can you help?” Hunk tilted the book towards him. “And how did you know this language?”

“Of course I can help, man.” Lance smiled and started to scan over the things and he tried to match the ingredients. “And my Mama taught me it. Maybe they had made contact with earth once and Cuba was where they did it? I dunno.”

“That’s cool, man.” Hunk smiled and watched Lance move about. “Now let’s make this.”

The food ended up being some type of fish meal, but they had to use some type of space flavoring and space tofu to make it close enough. It didn’t seem that bad actually.

Lance could hear footsteps from the hallway and became alert.

“Hey, guys.” It was just Shiro.

“Hey! You want to try some food that me and Lance made?” Hunk offered and Shiro nodded.

“Sure. But I actually came to talk to Lance. I saw him coming from the Medbay with Allura and Coran.” Shiro accepted the leafy and meaty food and slowly tried it. He seemed to approve.

“Oh! I was getting checked up, my back was hurting. And Coran wanted help with studying some allies and their biology.” Lance shrugged before biting into his food. He liked it. He could get used to it.

“Oh, so nothing bad? That’s good. I was worried.” Shiro pat Lance’s head and Lance could feel himself heat up.

Lance looked up to Shiro and thrived for his attention in his core. Shiro was comfortable smelling and smelt like incense. His general feeling was powerful and like he captured all of the attention in the room. It was odd. His very presence could fight Allura’s and most likely win if Allura wasn’t in the spotlight. He oozed confidence and caring. But Shiro also smelt of sickness at times. Like death could snatch the rug from under his feet. It made Lance slightly stir crazy and want to ask him so many questions. Almost like Keith’s new scent.

“Thanks, I appreciate the worrying.” Lance smiled and leaned into the pats before going back to focusing on his food.

“Can’t have anything bad happening to one of the saviors of the universe.” Shiro finished his food. “But seriously, Lance. If anything happens or is wrong, tell us. We’re your family, Lance. We all stick together.”

Lance could feel the pull of the sentiment from the words and he bit his lip. They were all his family. They all cared for him. He belonged. 

“Thank you.” Lance smiled and reached out to hug Shiro briefly before letting go. “I’m going to bring Keith his food. He’ll probably just work out through dinner again.”

“You sure you don’t want me to?” Shiro frowned.

“Nah, I have to get used to him still anyways.” That was a lie. Just like Shiro, Keith’s presence demanded attention. His scent had become sharper and more spicy over the years and it had an attitude and natural scents that made Lance want to shove his face into Keith’s chest and just live there forever. Lance didn’t know what was wrong with him anymore because of it.

“Alright. I wish you luck.” Shiro ruffled his hair before leaving and Hunk looked to Lance and sighed.

“Dude, just admit it that you feel bad for accidently making him think your name was Taylor and him not realizing you were trying to befriend him at the Garrison and now he’s upset and humiliated.” Hunk called him out.

“Oh shush!” Lance smacked Hunk and picked up the plate and turned away. “Half of it was your fault! You never corrected him!”

Back in the Garrison, because Lance would say one of his catchphrases constantly, Keith thought his name was Taylor.

“Still think its funny.” Hunk laughed as he moved away and Lance moved towards the training deck and away from his devious best friend.

It took him a good minute or two to reach the training deck. Lance could hear the sounds of Keith fighting the robots from down the hallway, and when he opened the door, he was hit with the smell of Keith. It was overpowering at first, but Lance knocked himself back into reality before he could stray off. 

“Hey! Brought you some food.” Lance called out as he went and placed it on a bench near Keith’s bag. “Me and Hunk made food from a planet we’re going to stop by. Better eat it while it's hot.” 

Keith slowed his movements down until he reached the end of the training cycle.

“Stop!” Keith called out and the training came to a stop.

Keith turned and locked eyes with Lance. He held Lance’s gaze before he sighed and walked over.

“Thanks…” Keith huffed.

“You’re welcome. We can’t have you dying on us.” Lance cracked a smile and a small laugh.

“I wouldn’t die automatically.” Keith snorted.

“Yeah. I know, buddy.” Lance turned to the door and stretched. “Still. Gotta keep your body functional at least.”

“Well… thanks.” 

“You’re welcome, Keith.” And Lance left the room while he could still keep his thoughts straight.

\--

Brown eyes looked over the information displayed in front of them. It was odd and they didn’t recognize a lot of the words on the screen, but they understood a good portion of it.

“That’s… odd.” They mumbled. “Humans aren’t like this…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DOUBLE NOTES???
> 
> But you notice that some scents and feelings are different and stronger?
> 
> Basically, you'll learn about the culture that Lance's father is from, has leaders and then mates. Lance is naturally attracted to Keith and Shiro to be mates because they're the most qualified and the strongest for what Lance feels inside of his heart and instincts as good mates. Allura is actually the "leader" and her power over the others asserts that to Lance and that's why he says that Shiro and Allura's presence always fight. Shiro has a bigger mate feeling than Keith, even if they're both similar. And Shiro doubles as a leader AND mate feeling, and so He'd go to Shiro because the presence is more mate than leader, and most of them choose their mates and families over their leaders and villages. Its gonna be odd but it'll make sense later on!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We get to see four McClain family members interact, Lance talk to Hunk and Keith, Keith and Lance's flashback, and we reach Amanzi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Take the first two parts with a grain of salt. Seriously. Don't get mad at me for how I portray one of the characters. That's just how he is currently. Not like how he is all the time. He can't adult correctly, so someone tries to make him adult.
> 
> I know they're all OOC. Leave me alone.

Dark blue eyes stared up at the TV as the news played.

“Three students from the Garrison had been announced missing after they witnessed a meteor hitting near the base and one of the ex students was seen nearby.” The reporter spoke smoothly and pictures appeared on the screen.

A deep breath was sucked in as the girl recognized the faces on the screen. She had seem one of them many times, and she had seen pictures of the others.

“The Garrison is trying their best to find the students and the ex student to make sure they’re okay. No other information has been released to the public. Now, onto other news-”

“Are you still watching that?” A voice came from behind the girl and she nodded.

“Of course. They could find them and we wouldn’t know. They didn’t even tell us they went missing. Veronica didn’t even tell us.” The girl had a bite to her voice and she could feel the man behind her shift his energy to a more serious and irritated, rather than is sad and worried aura he held. “I’m sorry, I’m just stressed.”

“We all are, but you need to remember they’ll find him.” The man approached the girl and put a hand on her shoulder.

The girl refused to flinch and sighed. She knew this man wasn’t her biological father by now. Ever since Lance left, she felt more disconnected from everything, and the more she interacted with her Papa, she realized that he didn’t smell like the rest of them. He wasn’t kin to her and her brother. Only to her siblings and her nieces and nephews. The lack of Lance being around had drained her and now realizing her Papa wasn’t her true father, and that she was born to another man, bothered her and made her want to flee. She didn’t belong in her home anymore. He didn’t belong in her eyes either. Without Lance or Veronica, she didn’t fit anymore.

“How is Mama? I heard she taught taught Alexandria how to sew earlier.” She was busy at school today, so she hadn’t been able to talk to Mama, only doing her homework to the background noise of the news channel.

“She’s still trying to recover from finding out about Lance.” Her Papa kissed her head and pat her back. “Come out for dinner in five.”

She listened to Papa leave and let out a large sigh once his presence was gone. She was going to find out what happened to Lance, even if it meant sneaking off to the Garrison herself.

-

“Officer W.” Veronica tapped her knuckles onto the office door of Adam W and waited for a response. “Sir, I want to talk to you about the disappearance of the three Cadets.”

The door slowly opened and a man stood in front of her. He looked down at her with steady eyes before sighing. 

“Cadet McClain. It’s a pleasure to see you again.” Adam turned back to his office and walked back in. “Come in.”

“Thank you, Sir.” Veronica nodded and walked in, closing the door behind her.

“So you wanted to talk about your brothers and his friend’s disappearance?” Adam sat back down into his chair and started to look over papers.

“Yes, Sir.” Veronica stood behind one of the chairs that faced his desk. “We both know that Officer Shirogane was on the meteor or whatever the Garrison announced as the cover up. And we both know that Kogane had come to take him away.”

“Your point is, Cadet?” Veronica could see Adam’s face twitch.

“You can’t sit to the side and act like nothing happened, Adam. Lance AND Shiro are now gone.” Veronica frowned and slammed her hands onto the back of the chair she stood behind. She couldn’t believe that Adam wasn’t fighting the Garrison to push a full search for them. Or even to investigate what the object that left the Earth’s atmosphere was. 

“I KNOW, Veronica.” Adam looked up to her. “Do you not realize that I have been trying to figure out how to act around my restraints. They won’t let me touch the files or the case due to my connections.”

“I was on the mission to get Shiro from the ship! I watched my brother come running in. He went somewhere! Shiro went somewhere. And we both have our hands tied now because of Lance.” Veronica tried to keep her cool. “Adam, we both can’t act like everything is fine. You have influence!”

“Veronica, my influence only goes so far. Ever since me and Shiro broke it off, I haven’t been allowed to go to some meetings because they find me unstable. And with them disappearing like this, I’m not allowed to speak up other than for my duties and with my students.” Veronica could see him slowly losing his cool more.

“I AM your student! Do your duty and tell them that this is causing an unrest! A whole class of students are shaken up by their classmates and peers going missing! You can’t ignore that, Adam! What would Papa do if he was here?!” Veronica grit out.

“Well he isn’t here.” Adam stood up and raised his voice. “As your superior officer, I say step down Cadet. Go back to your bunker and focus on your schooling. I already have so much stress from all of this, Cadet. Not learn your place!”

Veronica flinched back and took a step back. Adam’s face dropped and he took a step around his desk.

“Veronica, I’m sorry you know how much it hurts for both of them to disappear-” 

“Yes, Sir. Understood.” Veronica snapped to attention and saluted. “Have a nice day, Sir.”

And with that, Veronica left her half brother standing in his office, staring after her. 

-

Lance sat at one of the large windows that the ship had, staring out. There was a bench like window still that he sat on, one leg curled under him and the other bent up. His arms wrapped around his legs and his left hand idly picked at a loose scale on his under arm.

The space outside looked so vast and beautiful to Lance. It made him realize how small he was in this large universe. He was only one puzzle piece that seemed to fall out of place somehow. He didn’t know why he had fallen out of place, but he felt like it was because of this new revelation. 

Lately, Shiro had been stopping by his room often to talk and see how he was doing, asking him how he felt and if his bones were aching any. It had been two days and he knew it would be another two days until they reached the planet. He was stressing over who he would bring to the planet, because Allura and Coran had told him to bring someone close to him that could take care of him as he recovered. The Hafmey-Zog Queen, Iysande, had recommended it because the changes could render him useless and out of commission for almost a week since he was so old now. 

[“Lance, Queen Iysande talked to us about how to prep you before you arrive on Amanzi. She wanted you to stop picking out your scales, its damaging your skin and scale producing glands. And you need someone to come down with you to take care of you. They said that late puberties can be very painful and you can… become out of commission.” Allura talked calmly and looked to the side at the end.

“So I’ll be useless. For how long?” Lance sighed.

“A week at most. She offered the Prince to help so we aren’t down another Paladin but then she stopped and said it would better if it was someone close and caring. She doesn’t want you to be thrown into anything bad or stressful.” Coran smiled and pat his shoulder. “You and Hunk are best friends, right?”

“Yeah… I’ll ask him the next time I see him.”]

Lance in fact, did not. 

Hunk was with the others and they would get suspicious if Lance pulled him to the side without explanation to the others. He just didn’t know what to do. 

Lance looked up as he could hear footsteps down the corridor and he could feel the air change. It was Hunk. What the coincidence. 

Hunk appeared around the corner and Lance dropped his hand from the scale and smiled at him.

“Hey, buddy. What are you doing up so late?” Lance put his leg down and watched as Hunk sat down in front of him.

“I’m worried for you…” Hunk said straight off. Lance could feel the stress seeping off the other and it made Lance feel bad. “You seem stressed and when I went to your room you weren’t there or your normal places. Allura said you were out here and that you needed to talk to me anyways…”

Damn it, Allura. Why do you have to pressure Lance?

“Yeah… I’m… I need your help, buddy.” Lance was going to just do this now. “I’ve been hiding a secret for a while and we’re going to a new planet and I have to go do something important.”

“What is it? Oh god you’re sick and dying, aren’t you?! You are!” Hunk started to lift his hands like he was going to grab Lance, but Lance caught his hands easily.

“No, Hunk. But if I don’t do this I could get really hurt.” Lance paused. “I’m… not human. I didn’t understand this at all until the other day when I went to MedBay with Allura and Coran.”

“You’re… not human?” Hunk paused. “Like how Keith is Galra?”

“Kinda… yeah. You remember the box of scales I got from Jessica from time to time?” 

Realization hit Hunk’s face and he gasped. “Those were her scales?! You’re twins!”

“Yeah. I’m a hybrid of Human, Hafmey which is some type of mermaid like creature, and Zog which is an Avian of some type. I don’t have wings or any of my full features because I need an adult or two around me to trigger it. Like a parental type of thing. Like learning to do basic things. That’s why I don’t have wings.” Lance lifted his long sleeved shirt sleeve to show his arm speckled with scales. 

His shirt was a long sleeved turtle neck that he spliced together from other shirts he found in an old bedroom in the castle. Allura said it was the old Green Paladin’s room and they would have wanted their clothing to be used for good. That’s just the person they were. His scales had thickened over the few days and came in quickly now that they weren’t being picked at in almost a week. They shimmered in the light and Hunk gasped.

“Woah….” Hunk ran a hand across them. “They’re… beautiful.”

“Yeah…” Lance laughed slightly and slowly pushed his sleeve down. “I just… didn’t want the others to judge me yet or know until everything was done, okay?” 

“I have your secret.” Hunk promised. “And I’ll help you.”

Lance could smell a slight difference in the air but he was assuming it was just someone else’s smell on Hunk’s jacket and ignored it.

“Thanks buddy… I just don’t want the others to freak out when I disappear for a week. And thank you for helping me.” Lance reached out and hugged Hunk.

“You’re welcome.” Hunk hugged him back.

-

Lance watched Keith from the corner of his eye as the two practiced their combat together. 

Keith had pulled his hair into a ponytail and was wearing his armor. Lance was in his armor, with the makeshift turtleneck under his thin black undersuit. It was getting slightly hot but Lance was used to hot and humid. He preferred to be hot than cold, oddly.

Lance raised his Bayard and shot a practice bot from the air as soon as it zoomed into the practice bounds.

“System, level eight!” Keith called out and Lance glanced at the other Paladin. He seemed to be slowly overworking himself. He seemed upset over something and Lance couldn’t figure out why. 

Ever since Lance had stepped up and confronted Keith, everything had gone smoothly. Keith’s aura had gone from his always angry and sad aura to a peaceful and content one with hints of that fiery spirit he held. He felt weird being around Keith when he was suddenly back to his old aura. They had fixed everything then, right?

[“System, stop!” Lance called out and he heard the metal robots fall to the ground quickly.

“Hey!” Keith yelled back and Lance could feel the energy get directed towards him. “What was that for?!”

“I just need to talk to you.” Lance pulled out a cold water bottle and threw it at Keith. “Drink up. Can’t have you dying on me.”

Keith caught it and Lance could see the glare from his stone eyes. The oh so familiar glare that just increased after Shiro disappeared.

“What do you want?” Keith growled out and Lance sighed. 

“Look, I just want to fix whatever bad foot we started on. I know you’ve been lonely and upset for the last four years of your life. Almost six. Especially when Shiro left. You went recluse again. I know you didn’t like me back then, but I just wanted you to interact more with us to just… stop being lonely when people actually wanted to talk to you.” Lance explained.

“So your consistent nagging and irritating attitude was to just get me to get to know people? Hah.” Keith rolled his eyes and took a sip of his drink.

“I’m not kidding. I looked just like you when I was in classes with none of my friends or people I could rely on to get me through the day.” Lance waved his hands as he talked. “I put on a facade every day. Try to get people to like me and talk to me. If they thought I was a goofball, they’d think I was friendly and talk to me. Give me something to latch on.”

“If you wanted me to talk to you, why would you say your name was Taylor? I tried asking about you and people laughed when I said your name was Taylor.” 

Lance stopped and looked to him. “You… really thought my name was Taylor?” 

“I only knew your last name!” Keith half exploded and waved his arms in frustration. “There was two of you and I didn’t know either of your names! Taylor can go both genders!”

“You’re… so helpless.” Lance sighed and rubbed his face. “Dude. It was a joke that some upperclassmen told me. They said I could make impossible moves and get through the smallest openings to win. Tailor. Not Taylor.”

Keith’s anger subsided to embarassment and Lance almost wanted to get upset over the second hand embarrassment. 

“I didn’t know… Okay? I just thought you were trying to mess with me and purposely get me riled up to make a joke of me or put on a show. I didn’t know how to socialize.” Keith confessed. “I’m not going to suddenly treat you like you’re a god, but I do… kind of want to try and be friends if you truly were trying to be my friend back then.”

“Dios! Thank you!” Lance grinned. “God, you’re always so angry and I just want to see you okay. It sucks having people upset around you when you’re away from people who ground you and you just want to ground yourself and talk to others.”

“I… can understand.”]

Lance didn’t understand why Keith was so angry.

“Hey, Keith? You want to take a break? You seem upset.” Lance called out to Keith.

“No. Not really. Just disengage yourself and you can go.” Keith didn’t seem to want to talk.

“Program, pause!” Lance called out and Keith immediately let out an upset groan and turned to him.

“Lance, I need to practice. If you want a break then go take one.” Keith looked ready to punch Lance.

“You’re upset again. I don’t like it.” Lance straight up told him. “Something is bothering you, and I want to know what.”

“I don’t know!” Keith threw his hands up. “Everyone is fussing over you for some reason and they won’t tell me what’s going on! Allura said that you’re not feeling good for some reason and Coran is saying the same thing. Pidge is trying to figure out your biometric readings constantly. Hunk is just… he mumbles about taking care of you now. And Shiro. God, Shiro thinks you’re dying for god’s sake and I don’t know anything!” 

“Oh…” Lance was taken back. They were all worried over him?

“Yeah. They haven’t made it a big big deal, but when I asked they were concerned…” Keith looked defeated and his energy took a sad turn.

“Dude, I’m fine. My back just hurts. I have chronic back problems, remember?” Lance smiled. “And Shiro always thinks that since I took the shot I’m going to just die from my back breaking suddenly.”

Keith didn’t seem convinced.

“Dude, trust me. I’m fine.” Lance put a hand on his shoulder. “Thank you for worrying, though.”

Lance didn’t know why, but he felt like Keith was holding something back and he didn’t want to start anything by commenting on it and causing more issues. But something else was wrong and it felt like and itch to his aura.

“Fine. I’ll accept that for now.” He obviously didn’t. “Let’s take that break.”

-

It was two days later, and Lance was standing next to the others as they viewed the planet they were arriving to.

“It looks beautiful…” Lance breathed out and his bones ached as he felt a pull from the planet. 

The planet itself was covered in ice on the southern hemisphere, and the northern was obviously beautiful and green and healthy. No sign of the ice caps. The size of it was larger than earth surprisingly, and it just seemed…. Alive.

“We’re finally here.” Allura smiled and on the main screen a transmission came up and a beautiful girl appeared.

The girl had long dark brown hair and dark blue eyes. Her skin was fair, and speckled with freckles. Behind her ears were black feathers, and green scales were on her chin and across her neck. Behind her was jet black wings. She smiled at them and gasped, clasping her hands.

“Ah! Welcome, Voltron! Queen Allura and Coran!” The girl sounded like she was 20 and beaming with energy.

“Princess Meeli, hello.” Allura smiled at the princess. “I don’t go by Queen, but Princess but thank you for your polite formalities.”

“Ah, mother said you’d be their queen. I apologize!” Meeli clasped her hands together. “We’ve been waiting for your arrival and making the proper arrangements for the deal.”

“Thank you. We’re so glad you could help us in our time of need, Princess Meeli.” Allura bowed and Meeli bowed back.

“Of course, Princess Allura. Anything for Sacred Ones.” Meeli turned her head slightly and Lance could pick up slightly on another voice speaking quietly. “Ah, you may land now. We cleared the field near the castle for your Castle of Lions.”

“Thank you. We’ll be down shortly.” Once Allura finished, the transmission cut.

“What does she mean by deal?” Keith turned to Allura, who brushed the question off and went to her control platform.

“Paladins, please get ready for landing. Get in your armor and please be ready to present yourself to the royalty and the leaders. We’re here on special business.” Allura spoke softly.

“Allura… you never told us why we were here.” Shiro frowned. “Coran, any insites?” 

Coran shook his head no and nodded to Hunk, who nodded back and turned to Lance.

“Let’s go get your bag. I already packed your armor and things you’ll need. I got the scales from Jessica also.” Hunk whispered into Lance’s ear and Lance just nodded.

“Guys… let’s just do as she says. We’re probably just trading supplies or doing a surprise speech.” Lance sighed. “I’m tired and I just want to sleep.”

“Lance has a point. I’ve been looking at our database on them and they DO need help on some aspects. We need supplies. Allura did this with that odd purple planet.” Pidge pushed her glasses up and stretched. “Let’s just go do this. The universe needs us.”

The others glanced at each other before following lead and exiting. But Hunk already had his armor on, prepared, and he just brought Lance down directly to the entrance of the ship, but out of sight. Lance could feel the ship enter the atmosphere as they waited for the others to get there. 

“Where’s Lance and Hunk?” Pidge asked from the entrance area and Coran responded.

“They’re grabbing Lance’s bayard. He left it in his room they said.” They seemed to accept what Coran said because they became quiet. 

Lance heard the doors open and watched from afar as the others walked out.

“Its our time to go out.” Hunk slowly guided Lance out and he could see the others greeting about eight people. In front was Meeli, another women who was older, and a boy around his age.

The boy had light brown hair that bordered dirty blonde, and forest green eyes. He had freckles and he had freckles. He guessed he was the prince because he was dressed in the same white clothing and his feathers were also black, scales a bright green.

The women he assumed to be Iysande had white hair, feathers, and wings. Her eyes were a beautiful emerald green to match her scales. She held Allura’s hands in her hands and he could see they had longer and sharper fingers from where he stood.

Iysande and her people and children’s eyes slowly drifted from the other Paladins they were greeting to Lance and Hunk.

“Ah, that must be Lance and Hunk.” Iysande’s voice was smooth and had a slight waiver to it, which almost felt contradicting to how it felt to his ears.

“Yes. They’ll be the two we will have you two keep for the week.” Allura smiled back.

Lance and Hunk walked down and noticed how on edge the Paladins were. He felt so bad for them. Keith’s hands were twitching next to his bayard, Pidge was looking across the faces around her, and Shiro was tense.

“Ah! Took you two long enough! You didn’t get to meet your hosts first!” Coran smiled and Lance cracked a smile.

“Sorry, I was nervous.” Lance laughed.

“Don’t be nervous.” Iysande cooed and held a hand out to Lance. When he was close enough, he put his own into her hand and he kissed her hand. He learned that it was okay to do that and not a big no no by Coran.

“I’ll try not to be this week. Can’t promise anything.” Lance shrugged.

“What’s going on, Allura.” Shiro finally spoke up.

“Aldin, Meelisa. Please take these two to the Harboring Room.” Iysande spoke to her children, and the two royal children nodded and stepped forward. “They need to be prepped for the ceremony. The sacrifice has to be made tonight.”

“You’re not taking them anywhere.” Keith stepped forward. “We need an explanation on why they’re being taken.”

“Young Paladin, I suggest you do not step out of line.” Iysande warned. “You have no idea what is happening to the poor Blue Paladin.”

“We don’t. That’s the point.” Pidge spoke up. “We’re told there’s a deal, now a ceremony and sacrifice. What’s going on?”

Iysande nodded at her children and they put a hand on both of their backs and Lance could feel the anxious shift in his friend’s and the itch and burn of being near his kin. It burned through his body, ached his bones, and made him want to cry the more he stood there.

They started to walk and Lance glanced back to where the others stood, the royal council putting their hands up to stop them from going further, and he could hear Allura tell them they’re okay and that this is just part of the deal.

Lance looked forward and to Meeli and Aldin. Hunk felt slightly nervous but rather okay next to him.

“It’s pleasant to meet you finally, Lance. I heard how your father died on Earth before you were born. I’m sorry you had to deal with the loss.” Meeli smiled at Lance sweetly.

Lance didn’t know what to expect, but this burning was going to kill him before he could find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So,,,, originally they were all going to walk out and then they were going to quickly take away Lance but wups. Things change as I write.
> 
> But also, on the Adam note;
> 
> I feel like Adam can't deal with his emotions so he gets angry easily. And yes, Adam is Veronica's half brother. By family wise, that would make Lance and Jessica also his half siblings. Adam doesn't know they're not actually his father's children. And Veronica was part of Shiro's rescue party. Adam wasn't. He was on the other side of the cameras when it happened.
> 
> Adam's connections to the McClain family is only know by everyone older than Jessica and Lance, but not Jessica and Lance. And the Garrison knows also. Adam's mother took him to America with her when she entered the Garrison so he was raised in the Garrison and would go back to see his father every summer and basically was kept away from the other kids because they didn't grow up with him and it'd just upset everyone.
> 
> Also, the Hafmey-Zog people are really nice and soft people so legit don't worry about anything. They worship the moon.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance starts to feel the effects of everything, his teammates worry, they have ceremonies, and Hunk learns some important information through a history lesson.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it might get confusing. Nikoyana is the royal family name, so it's not his middle name. You'll know what I mean when you read it, so trust me.
> 
> Also, I listened to He Mele No Lilo the whole time writing the ceremonies. So think of songs like that.
> 
> Also, when I mean that the Hafmey-Zog are really friendly and mean good, they really do. Meeli is really energetic usually and will legit grab onto people and lay on them because she is that friend that needs attention and physical affection. So have fun with this.

Lance looked around the large room in awe, or as much awe as his aching body would let him. 

The room was an assortments of reds, oranges, and whites. There was a large bed that had a night stand on each side. There was multiple doors that lead to other rooms. There was a large balcony that faced the inner workings of the castle, and there was a small pool on the balcony. A dresser with a mirror sat across from the bed, against the other wall. There was a large chandelier hanging from the roof, giving a soft glow.

“This is where you will be staying, Lance.” Aldin spoke and waved to the room before pointing to a specific door. “That one leads to a staircase which leads to Hunk’s room.”

“It’s beautiful…” Lance breathed out and crept towards the bed.

“Thank you! Mother said I could design the room for this special event! We don’t get Sacred Ones often!” Meeli smiled brightly and her wings fluttered slightly as she helped Lance get to the bed. Aldin helped Hunk put their bags to the side.

“Sacred Ones?” Hunk asked as he turned to Meeli.

“Oh! Hafmey-Zog are raised to believe that a mixture of culture and the different people in the galaxy are blessings! We see it as the peace between planets and the people!” Meeli grinned and Lance raised an eyebrow.

“Really?” He questioned. That was a first for him. He slowly stripped himself of his shoes and socks.

“Yes! We believe peace is the ultimate goal! We don’t fight unless we truly do. The last time we had to defend ourselves was when the Galra tried to attack and we hid away and they left! We lost a few key Council members. Uncle was lost to the universe. We prayed to the Great Luna that he would come home but it has been almost eighteen years since he was lost to the universe.” Meeli’s smile went sad and lost. “Ah, but that was a long time ago. I barely remember it. I was only three. Aldin wasn’t born during that time.”

“Woah… do you think Lance and his sister could be your cousins?” Hunk asked and looked to Lance.

“He may be. We lost two others to the fight. Tonight will tell us who he belongs to.” Aldin approached Lance and held a hand out to him. “You look like you’re going to sweat your life away and pass out. We do not mind you stripping down to undergarments. Here we all believe we are one family, even if you are not of blood. We do not mind skin in these times.”

“Thank you.” Lance breathed out and slowly stripped his pants off, placing them next to him before going to his shirt. The cool air felt nice on his burning and angry skin. As he tugged it off, he could hear Meeli gasp in shock.

“Lance… what have you done to yourself?” Lance looked up to her as he felt her come near. She ran her hand across his arm to see small scars from years of removing scales.

“Where we come from, we do not have scales or feathers, like the others don’t. I had to pretend to be normal for my family’s sake.” Lance enjoyed the cool press of her hand.

“I’m so sorry you had to go through that.” Meeli cooed to him and hugged Lance. “Tonight you’ll be able to gain your Hafmey-Zog side fully and you don’t have to worry about hurting yourself anymore.”

“When does the ceremony start, again? I need to check up on the others and make sure they know he’s okay.” Hunk asked.

“In an hour. The clothing for the ceremony is already here. It may be revealing on the top, but it is so your wings do not break when they start to come out.” Aldin pointed to a small box that looked like a generic white clothing gift box you would get on Earth.

“Thanks.” Lance smiled. “I appreciate everything your planet is doing for us. I… I don’t know what would happen if I wasn’t able to do this.”

“It’s our pleasure. Its to help you. When you return to your sister, you can help her.” Meeli put her hand on Lance’s cheek and kissed his other one. “Welcome to the family, Lance.”

-

When Hunk went down the stairs connected to his room, he could hear people talking outside. He walked to the door and opened it, stepping out. Outside his room was Keith, Shiro, and Pidge talking. They stopped and turned to him as he shut the door.

“Hey, guys.” Hunk felt nervous as their eyes seemed to criticize him. 

“Where’s Lance?” Pidge adjusted her glasses and put her hands on her hips, cocking them.

“Yeah. I know he asked you to help him when he disappeared. I heard that part the other day. What’s going on?” Keith stepped forward.

“Look guys, he’s just not feeling good. They said he could help him get better. I can’t really say what they’re doing.” Hunk shrugged and tried his best to be vague.

“What’s the sacrifice about? The ceremony?” Shiro then asked.

“Yeah. It sounds like they’re using magic or something.” Pidge also spoke up.

“It’s just part of the greeting and I guess they use some type of magic to heal. Just… guys. They’re peaceful people. They don’t fight unless they’re truly provoked. They believe in talking and words before violence and actions.” Hunk tried his best to explain, but he had a feeling that the three wouldn’t believe him. “They’re just trying to help us.”

“I.. I guess you have a point. But I don’t like being kept in the dark. Lance is one of my best friends.” Pidge scratched her arm. She had changed into her sweater again, and the others were all in their normal clothes.

“I’m sorry, but they just didn’t want you freaking out over Lance, okay? He’s really self concious.” Hunk didn’t particularly lie.

“Ah, Paladins!” A happy voice called from down the hallway and they turned to see one of the council members that met them at the front. She had long black hair, gray wings, yellow eyes, and dark gray scales. Her robes were dark green and she had gold jewelry on her.

“Oh, hello Mi’Lani.” Pidge offered a small smile. “I’m sorry about earlier. We’re just worried for Lance. The last time we sent someone off they got injured and held hostage.” 

“Don’t worry. Planets like this are rare these days. I understand.” Mi’Lani nodded and looked over the four with a fond look, reminding Hunk of a grandmother. “I was sent by Queen Iysande to tell you that you four need to get ready for the ceremony. And Hunk, you’re going to be needed in Lance’s room again once he’s dressed. You and Meeli are going to escort him down. Aldin was going to, but he thought you would be better.” 

“Of course. I’ll just get changed into more comfortable clothing.” Hunk smiled and turned to the others. “I think you guys should just go get ready and we’ll see you out there.”

Pidge pulled on Keith’s sleeve and dragged him to his room. Mi’Lani looked between Hunk and Shiro before bowing slightly and turning to leave. Once she was down the hallway, Shiro’s eyes turned from her now gone figure to Hunk.

“Hey… you trust us enough to tell us what is going on, right?” Shiro was quiet with his words and Hunk felt guilt hit his stomach.

“Shiro… I really can’t tell you. They chose me to take care of Lance for a reason. Coran and Allura need us to trust them and the Hafmey-Zog.” Hunk put his hand on Shiro’s shoulder. “Just believe in us. We’re a team.”

Hunk then turned and went back into his room, shutting the door behind him and leaving Shiro in the hallway.

Lance was barely awake when he saw Hunk come up the stairs and out into the large room. He could smell the lingering scents of the other Paladins on him. Meeli was running a washcloth over Lance’s skin and she looked up when Hunk approached.

“Ah! You’re back!” She smiled at him and towel dried the final part. “You will help him into his clothing.”

Lance watched as Hunk nodded and picked up the box carefully and brought it over. Lance pushed himself up and peered at the box as it opened. The first things he noted was the white cloth with blue and gold accents. Hunk had picked up the bottoms, which where smooth shorts with flowy tulle that went over it. The shorts themselves were a very light blue with white tulle like material overlaying over it. It looked almost completely white if you were far enough away. The hemming on the shorts had blue woven in, and the tulle had gold intertwined into it and the hemmed edges had gold in it. It went on easily and fit Lance easily.

The top was a halter top that was an opaque white and had a gold choker that it came down from, stopping right where his ribs ended. It had an open back and the hemming had gold and blue in it. There was two golden arm cuffs that went on his biceps and it kept white tulle connected to his halter top and his arms, almost like an over shawl going over his arms and around his back. Lance was given golden ear cuffs to give him some flash. And the shoes they gave him were golden and looked like roman sandals. They even gave him a golden hair chains. It looked rather elegant and like he was royalty. It was a contrast from the fantasy looking robes and togas that the council and royalty wore. Even if it was similar in the flashy and fantasy looking aspects.

Lance looked to the mirror and saw how royal he looked and graceful it was. His scales were on full display and you could see the forms on his back had pushed out more and he was glad that his back was not constricted. Lance was almost entranced by himself. His fever feeling went away whenever familiar people touched him, so he was glad that it was helping him feel better. This flock like mentality was starting to help him more than it had before.

Meeli walked back into the room and let out a gasp, catching Lance’s attention from his reflection. Her old robes were given up for a beautiful white dress that flowed around her, cutting off at her knees. It seemed very airy and the sleeves were off the shoulder. Her black wings were folded neatly on the back and seemed to slightly drag on the floor, now that he got a good look at the large wings. She had a golden crown on her head. It was thin and simple, having emeralds on it. Her shoes looked like Lance’s, but had jewels on them also.

“You look beautiful, Princess Meeli.” Hunk complimented the girl, and she turned and smiled at him. 

“Thank you, Hunk! I appreciate your compliment.” She truly did, and Lance could feel her radiate joy. She turned back to Lance and held out her hand. “Come, take out hands and we will take you down to the ceremony.”

Lance nodded and took her hand. Hunk took his other and the three of them walked out of the room. It took a good three minutes of walking down hallways and a few stairs to get them to a large open stone courtyard. In the middle was a large red carpet and it was lined with gold. If Lance had to guess, it was ⅔ of a football field. On the outside, there was cushions and mats for people to sit. One side had a mass of stadium like seats that no one was in yet. People were starting to fill in, but none were in their seats. Just trying to get to them.

Meeli and Hunk lead them to the center of one of the large sides, where Iysande and Aldin sat with some of the council members. He saw not all of them were there, and he assumed they were part of the ceremony. When they got to their cushions, Iysande and Aldin stood up.

“Ah, you look beautiful, my boy.” Iysande ran her hands over Lance’s shoulders before hugging him. “I have got to say… I believe we know who your father was. The Great Luna told Mi’Lani after you arrived and we were joyed to hear, but saddened when we realized you were going to leave for your duties to our people and the universe.”

“You know?” Lance’s vision got fuzzy for a second and a wave of nausea hit him again.

“Yes. We will tell you as we tell the rest of our people.” Iysande kissed his forehead and he felt the nausea ease some.

Meeli and Hunk helped him down as the others sat down. Meeli curled up against Lance’s side, playing with the tulle that draped his arms idly and tried to not rip it with her claws. Hunk pressed their knees together in a reassuring way as they watched the seats slowly get taken up. Then, entered Allura, Coran, and the other Paladins. The second they walked in, Lance could feel his body ease some. Just seeing them look around in awe was enough to tell him that he was safe if anyone attacked.

Then, their eyes shifted to him, Hunk, and Meeli. Pidge looked confused, Shiro looked wary and betrayed, and Keith looked ready to explode. Allura whispered something to them before they sat down directly across from them. It didn’t take long for the seats to be completely filled. Lance could see a small pool of water with a pod of Hafmey watching, and a perch of Zog watching them intently. 

Iysande stood up and smiled.

“My family! As you all know, we have invited Voltron to come to our peaceful planet and help us with some trading. But as some of you have heard, news of what happened to Ikakia, my younger brother came with the coming of Voltron, our defenders of the Universe.” Iysande smiled at her people as they all perked up at the mention of the Prince of Amanzi. “I am sad to say that Ikakia had died, but not before he had been able to mate. Tonight, we celebrate the life of Ikakia and what he stood for and did for our planet. We shall sacrifice our best selection of crop to the Great Luna to help him pass over!”

The group of Hafmey-Zog started to coo loudly, and some of them let out happy noises to show their condolence to Iysande. Lance could feel the meaning behind them. They could feel the emotional pull of finding out her brother had died and that he had been able to go out nobily.

“We have been blessed today, a Sacred One has come home to us also.” Iysande announced and the people gasped and some tittered in glee. “We will have a Moon Ceremony and a Light Ceremony today. Now, any words from Voltron?”

Allura nodded and stood up, smoothing out her dress as she stepped forward.

“Voltron gratefully accepts this opportunity and help you are giving us. As you all know, we fight for your peace and to protect you as best as we can from the Galra and to try and make sure you do not have to fight. We appreciate your alliance.” Allura bowed to Iysande. “I am grateful the most. You had helped Altea before we fell, and there’s no way to repay the debt that we owe you.”

“You are repaying it by helping all, Princess Allura. May the Great Luna protect you all and help you overturn the Galra hold.” Iysande raised her goblet that was in her hand now. “Now, let's start the celebrations!”

She then threw the contents of the goblet onto the center of the stone, onto the carpet, and fog entered the courtyard as she sat back down.

The Moon Ceremony was mainly half of the council and some of the nobles dancing and performing while a Priestess from the Council, Mi’Lani, sacrificed the crop. A lot of beautiful fruit and a few fish were thrown into a fire and prayed over. Singing from the dancing nobles filled the air, and it was breathtaking. It was in a different language and sounded old and like it told of a beautiful tale.

Then, as the ceremony shifted into the Light Ceremony, the singing changed and Mi’Lani joined the dance, making her way over to Lance. When she got to Lance, she held out a hand and he accepted. The moment he took her hand, she pulled him up easily and spun him with her back into the center.

“Son of Ikakia,” Mi’Lani started, her gold eyes were sharp but kind. She spoke softly so only Lance could hear her. “You have been brought home to us finally. The Great Luna told me you have traveled long and suffered great pains throughout the years, being separated from your born Kin and then suddenly thrown into great turmoil and stress.”

Lance nodded and allowed her to spin him. “Yes, it was actually hard…”

Mi’Lani had a power presence, like Iysande, Meeli, Aldin, Allura, and Shiro, but not the same. She had an all knowing power and felt like a mother power inhabited her body, making her energy amplify and calm everyone around her. She smelt like lavender and fields. The open sky and fresh rain at night, all at the same time. Lance loved it. It was accepting.

“I’m glad you came home to us, we can finally put your physical misery out and open what you are out. Release the Great Luna from where she’s trapped from inside. Let her bless you.” Mi’Lani had lead Lance over to the table next to the fire pit. She picked up a bowl as she dropped his hand, smiling at him. “I must bless you.”

Lance nodded and he felt something guide him to sit down, his heels under his butt and him sitting on his legs. His tulle fanned out around him. Mi’Lani leaned down and Lance closed his eyes as the drew symbols onto his skin with the lukewarm dark blue paste. 

“Great Luna, please bless this boy, as he is the son of the great Ikakia, our late Prince and beloved general. Let Lance Nikoyana McClain be birthed again into his true form. The Nikoyana family accepts him back into our culture and their lives, to let him protect us and everyone alive and us protect him while he grows his wings and true self.” Mi’Lani’s words were softly spoken and Lance could feel the movement of the dancers and singers around him, like they were protecting him. The song was soft and like a prayer itself.

Mi’Lani leaned in and pressed her lips to Lance’s forehead, onto the paste she had blessed him with. Lance could feel a surge of energy zap through him and it made him gasp and jerk slightly. He would have probably accidently hit Mi’Lani if it wasn’t for her holding his head still. The energy burned through him and he let out a pained groan before it was gone. He opened his eyes and looked up to Mi’Lani, who smiled at him and rushed his hair from his face. 

“You did it, my boy.” Mi’Lani helped him up before they started a dance again, joining in with the others. He noticed that Aldin and Meeli had both gotten up, dancing together, hand in hand. It was the first time that Lance had see Aldin smile truly, and he wanted to smile and join them.

“Let’s all join the dancing!” Iysande announced and the others got up, some of them jumping up and into flight to get down to the floor, finding a dance partner quickly. Lance was amazed how easy it was to dance to the music with them. He felt so much energy and it was blinding him from the pain he could feel between his shoulder blades.

A hand tapped on Lance’s shoulder and he turned to see Shiro standing there, smiling nervously at him. Mi’Lani glanced between them and Lance smiled at him.

“Hey, Shiro. I haven’t seen you all day.” Lance tried to even his voice.

“Yeah.. Would you like to dance? Am I allowed to take you?” Shiro glanced at Mi’Lani, who just smiled at the two and nodded. 

“Go ahead, you two. I have duties to tend to.” Mi’Lani backed into the crowd of almost in sync dancign Hafmey-Zog and Zog. The Hafmey couldn’t really get out of the water currently, so they celebrated in their small pond. 

Lance took Shiro’s hand and smiled as they danced with the crowd. It was easier to dance with Shiro when Lance felt numb. His presence wasn’t overpowering him and forcing him under a thick water of his presence.

“How are you feeling?” Shiro asked after a minute, twirling Lance.

“Kinda numb right now.” Lance told the truth. “Mi’Lani told me something important earlier and I’m still trying to process it all.”

Lance still couldn’t believe he was a son of a prince. It was amazing.

“You look beautiful. I like how they dressed you up.” Shiro motioned to the clothing Lance wore. Lance had just noticed a majority of his scaled were still covered, but it wasn’t a problem. 

“Thank you. I believe it is a custom for the subject of the Light Ceremony to wear this.” Lance smiled and shrugged.

“What was your ceremony about? And why was Meeli all over you?” Shiro asked, a bit of jealousy lacing his voice and Lance didn’t know how to deal with that information. “Keith was about to get up and fight someone.”

“I’m great he didn’t. But she’s actually really nice. She doesn’t mean harm. She doesn’t want to court me, I can tell you that for sure.” Lance laughed. “But the ceremony is for rebirth or coming of age.”

“Rebirth?” Shiro frowned.

“Lance.” A hand landed on his shoulder and Lance looked up to see Aldin. “We need to get you back to your room. We can’t have you passing out and everything triggering in public.” 

Lance blinked up at Aldin, who gave a soft smile. 

“Oh! Yeah, that would be bad. You, Meeli, and Hunk can enjoy the celebration and I’ll be fine by myself for a while.” Lance smiled back at him then turned to Shiro. “Sorry, I have things to do, Shiro.”

Shiro opened his mouth, but closed it as he remembered Allura told them to not interrupt the ceremony or any of the after effects.

Lance followed Aldin back to the Holding Room, and it would be the last time Shiro would see Lance for almost a week.

-

Hunk sat in front of Meeli as she flipped through books and tried to find a certain scripture. She finally sat the book in front of Hunk, and he read it slowly.

“Hafmey and Zog have lived peacefully together for centuries. To create a truce, the prince and princess of both sides had used their love to give birth to the first Hafmey-Zog children. From there, the peace had finally fallen over the two kingdoms, and they created the Hafmey-Zog kingdom to help rule over the half breeds. They saw them as the special ones, the ones who would bring peace to everything and stop all wars. Afterwards, there was no difference between the rich and poor. Everyone was equals and lived together, doing their part. 

The Queen or King were the first born of the prior king or queen, and the princes and princesses were their children or the siblings that did not become the ruler. The nobles are their descendants and the most magical or blessed of them were put on the council. The most that have ever been on the council have been ten, including the High Priestess, who the Great Luna spoke through.

The Great Luna was the moon goddess that gave birth to the Hafmey and Zog, watching over them even after she died. Her spirit had became a goddess as she watches them from the Moon. The High Priestess is chosen at birth and is given this title so she could help anyone that needs her help. 

Since everyone has been treated equal, the Royal Family has been seen as the mothers and fathers of the Hafmey-Zog, and are free to marry whoever they please. They meet with the royal families of the Hafmey and Zog regularly to make sure everything is okay and support their family as best as they could.”

Hunk looked up to Meeli. “So that's why you guys treat everyone as family and don’t mind anything. You’re all one and the same. Your mother is basically everyone’s mom, but not at the same time?”

“Yes. It sounds like we rule, but all that we do is watch over everyone and stop wars from happening. They praise us almost like the Great Luna because we are the descendants of the Peace Bringers. That is also why we see anyone who’s half breeds or share heritage with us as royal and above us. It brings peace as we come together.” Meeli smiled. “But just because we are all similar, doesn’t mean we aren't all different. Some can be cruel but they’re usually quiet about it.”

Hunk nodded and turned his eyes to the next section Meeli pointed to him. 

“Hafmey-Zog tend to choose mates, or sometimes multiple mates. They choose mates that stand out to them and draw them in. They feel safer and more open about it to them that way.

Same sex relationships are accepted in Hafmey-Zog society since everyone is understanding that mates are given partially by the Great Luna to help make sure we’re matched correctly. Same sex couples aren’t uncommon, and there are females and males from same sex couples that offer to have children for others that cannot have their own children, or if they want to bring families together. There are children that come from two different relationships, but one family. The Hafmey-Zog will do that to keep their people alive and going well. Usually, you unconsciously choose mates by the time you can fly.”

“Are you trying to tell me…” Hunk stared at her in awe.

“Lance has already chosen unconsciously. The Great Luna has told us through Mi’Lani, and we’re hoping when he finally comes back to consciousness, he will know himself and act on it.” Meeli smiled and pat his hand. “Keith and Shiro have no idea what is coming for them, do they?”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance is finally done with puberty. We get to see him reunite with the crew briefly.
> 
> Keith is an awkward kid that doesn't know how to act, and Lance the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RIP I had 75% of this written and just bullshitted the rest.
> 
> Sorry for taking long.
> 
> But I'm uuuh,,, starting the Shiro route first so lol. Take this small glimpse of Lance before I shove Shiro development down your throat.

Screaming filled the room. They were pained and were wobbly. 

Lance was curled on her side, his chest pressed to the bed as he gripped onto the sheets. He felt like his body was being ripped apart, mainly his back. He could feel Hunk and Meeli around him as he screamed his lungs off.

“Hey, Meeli.” Hunk’s voice was quiet and hurried. “They’re finally out.” 

The pain started to seer a little bit and he could feel something moving around on his back. There was hands moving across his back, trying to calm his short gasps and crying. It slowly started to dull and his screams had stopped.

“Hey, Lance. It’s okay.” Meeli whispered into his ear and pet his head. “You’re going to be okay. You’re missing some of your feathers but they’ll come in soon. Your talons and most of your scales are in too.”

“Yeah, they’re beautiful, Lance.” Hunk pat his arm and Lance looked up to them with teary eyes. Their positive energy helped ease the pain some.

“T-thank you.” Lance grit out as another shot of pain went through his back. He tried to smile through the pain. He could see Aldin enter the room, carrying a tray and Lance could smell food on it and he turned his attention to Aldin.

“I brought you soup and some bread, or thats what Hunk called it.” Aldin brought it over, and the other two helped Lance sit up.

“Thank you, Aldin.” Meeli smiled and spoke for Lance and she helped take the tray and put it in Lance’s lap.

Lance sat quietly as he ate. He felt ready to pass out at any moment, and it was hard to get his food down. His throat felt like it was tight and everything felt wrong but right. Lance didn’t want to feel like this. The world was even more sharp and Lance felt like he could hear the creaks of the building and see more details.

“Do you want to see your wings? We can bring you to the mirror.” Hunk asked as Lance finished his food.

“Yeah. I want to see what they look like.” Lance nodded.

Aldin took the tray again and Hunk helped Lance up before he lead him to the mirror. Once they got to the mirror, Lance could see large wings on his back. They were mostly covered with white feathers, some patches were missing. His scales covered more of his shoulders and neck now, fanning out over his skin. He could see small feathers starting to appear behind his ears. His hands already had talons, which were black. Lance stared in awe and brought his hands up to touch the feathers behind his ears. His ears also looked slightly more pointed like the others. It was amazing.

“Your feathers look like your father’s.” Iysande’s voice came from behind him and he turned to see her standing at the door. Lance turned to look at her as she walked in, shutting the door behind her. “Your feathers are pure white like his.”

Lance could see Meeli motion Hunk and Aldin to follow her out the door. Once the two were alone, Iysande walked towards him and lifted a hand to run it through his hair.

“You look so much like him but so different at the same time.” Iysande commented. “He had beautiful blue eyes, light brown hair. You have his face structure and his bones. He was a little bit bigger than you though. You’re so much tanner.”

“My dad… what was he like?” Lance half closed his eyes, enjoying her touching his hair. It reminded him of home. But his aches were slipping away as her presence washed away everything with her motherly aura.

“We was strong. He wanted to protect our people. He believed the universe could live in harmony.” Iysande sounded like she was remembering good memories. “The Great Luna told us that his mate lived somewhere else and his child would be part of what would save the universe, and it caused trouble. He was only twenty-eight earth years when we were attacked and he went missing. Everyone thought that we were doomed.”

“Do you think my mother was his mate?” Lance looked up to her.

“I believe so.” She nodded. “My boy, do you know who yours is?”

“No… but I have felt something try to bring me towards two people…” Lance spoke truthfully. “But I don’t want to shatter everything that has been built up.”

“Lance…” Iysande took his face within her hands and made him look at her. “As your Aunt, your family, your Queen, I can tell you that if it is meant to be, it will happen.”

Lance wanted to look away from her eyes. They were so caring and made him feel like everything would be okay, and he wouldn’t have to ever fight again. He was safe here. But he knew that wasn’t the case.

“But… what if they don’t accept me like this?” Lance could feel tears brim his eyes.

“The Paladins and the Alteans have been worried about you all week. You were screaming loudly.” Iysande smiled and kissed his forehead. “And they’d be fools to not accept such a Blessing.”

“They were…?” Lance tried to push down his embarrassment and think past her words. Blessing….

“Yes, my boy. Tomorrow you can go down and see them.”

-

Lance opened his eyes slowly. He could see the red sheets that he’s been sleeping on under his fingertips as he slowly moved them over the soft fabric. Lance was on his stomach, his legs half curled up over him, the right side of his face pressed up against the pillow, and his left hand was in his line of sight. His hand looked normal for the most part, a few scales here and there, but the only major change was that his fingertips turned to gray then black as short talons came from the tips. They looked sharp and were jet black. Lance could feel the fabric under the tips of them as he carefully ran his fingers over it. It felt so weird, but Lance didn’t mind it. He turned his hands up some to see a little bit of blue tinted webbing connecting his fingers. It wasn’t that big, maybe connecting right below his middle knuckles.

There was a soft knock on Lance’s door and he looked up.

“Come in.” Lance called out as he pushed himself up. His bones ached and he could feel his wings stretch slightly as he stretched, before they folded back up neatly.

Hunk came in and shut the door behind him. He was carrying a bowl of what Lance presumed to be fruit.

“Hey, I thought you’d be hungry before we got you dressed and going down to see the others.” Hunk grinned and brought the fruit over before sitting down next to Lance.

“Thanks, man.” Lance took the bowl and started to eat the fruit. They were all mixes of pinks and oranges. They tasted sort of like strawberries and kiwi, and it was odd but good.

“You’re welcome.” Hunk smiled before going and turning to fix a few of Lance’s feathers. The feathers behind his ears came in and they were sort of awkward. He knew he’d get used to them soon, but they were still obviously new and he wasn’t used to them yet.

Lance ate quietly as Hunk moved around his room. He was pulling out Lance’s clothes and fixing a few things. Hunk was a good caretaker, even when Lance didn’t need one anymore. Lance was mobile again and he wasn’t feeling like he would die if he stood up for more than five minutes. It was now if he was up more like he had a dull throbbing and aching in his bones and back. Lance was glad that he didn’t have to do anything during the week of pain of in and out of sleep. He remembered being bathed at one point, and he was out of it. Meeli and Aldin had come in a few times to help out Hunk when Lance had become too much to deal with. Hunk came back over to Lance and sat down the items of clothing in front of him.

“Okay, so you need to learn how to deal with your jacket being over your wings and that a lot of your clothing will have slits in them. Allura said that your armor will probably change to accommodate your wings.” Hunk sighed and picked up a t-shirt. “But thankfully, you aren’t doing anything really, so you’ll be in just a t-shirt.”

Lance nodded and reached out to grab the t-shirt. Hunk thankfully let Lance have it and watched as Lance struggled to get it on, and over his wings. Hunk had to reach over and helped Lance into his shirt. The pants obviously went on easily and he didn’t need help for that. Hunk helped him up and they made their way to the door.

Lance didn’t pay attention as they walked through hallways, the light rust colored clay walls all looked the same with the same torches lines up evenly to light up the way. Lance truly only paid attention when they went down stairs and entered a common room. It was large and had couches and bookcases. There was tables and what seemed like a TV. Sitting around the couches were the other members of Voltron. The first one to look up was Pidge, and he abruptly stood up and ran over.

“Lance!” He cried out and jumped into Lance’s open arms. Lance stumbled slightly, trying his best to hold onto the smaller paladin and not fall down. Pidge hid his face inside of Lance’s t-shirt. “God, you idiot! Why didn’t you tell us that you weren’t human?!”

“H-hey… I didn’t truly understand until this.” Lance put a hand into Pidge’s hair and put his face into his hair and smiled as he closed his eyes. Pidge gave off an upset but glad aura. He was worried.

“God, we thought you were being murdered, you idiot!” Pidge huffed as he let go.

“Yeah. It was terrifying until they said that you were Hafmey-Zog and it made more sense.” Shiro spoke up as he got up. Lance looked up to the others were making their way over.

“Welcome back, Lance.” Coran grinned and peered at Lance’s ear feathers. “Pure white. You’re definitely royalty.” 

“Truly beautiful…” Allura murmured as she circled Lance. When she made it back into his sights, she smiled at him. “Are you feeling better?”

“Yeah. It hurt bad trying to get them out, but I managed it!” Lance laughed and Allura let out a small laugh.

“I’m sure it did.” She turned to Coran, speaking quietly and turning back to Lance. “Me and Coran looked over a few of the technical things. Your armor should change some to accommodate your new form. Like how it changed itself to fit you instead of the Paladin of Old.”

“We made sure to bring it in for you.” Keith finally spoke up and Lance looked to him to see that Keith was keeping his distance from him. This made Lance pause.

Lance knew that Keith was part Galran, which was a predatory species so to say. If Lance is what you would call prey species, would that make Keith dangerous now? Lance knew that they both knew better but he saw a glance of how the Hafmey treated Lance in his haze of the ceremony. They were all cautious as the Princess danced with him. Lance wondered if Keith could smell differently like he did.

“Thanks.” Lance grinned and turned to the others. “You want to see how big my wings are?” 

“Yes! I want to measure them and do tests on them!” Pidge jumped to back in front of Lance.

Lance made his wings unfold and Pidge ran to touch them.

“Be careful, okay? They still hurt.” Lance watched as the others approached and ran a hand over the wings. It felt weird and Lance didn’t know how many other times he’d let anyone touch them other to help him preen.

“It’s good to have you back.” Shiro spoke up from right behind Lance.

“Thank you, Shiro.”

-

It was quiet to the regular ear as Lance sat in the small garden that he had found on the castle grounds. He sat with his eyes closed and on the ground, his legs curled next to him, as he listened to the noises of the wind rustling the plants. He could hear one or two near him walking either in the garden or in the castle’s outer walkways. There was an open water source nearby, most likely a controlled manmade stream that ran through the outer parts of the garden. It was rather nice to just sit there and bask in the sunlight. Lance quite enjoyed it. He was out there for an hour before someone had finally found him and approached him.

“So this is where you ran off to.” 

Lance slowly opened his eyes and looked up to see Keith standing above him and a few feet away, watching him. He seemed rather calm now, rather than the irritated and worried cluster of anxiety he was when he first saw Lance again.

“Yeah. It’s rather nice.” Lance nodded and smiled at him. “You want to join me?”

Keith hesitated before he nodded. “Sure.”

Keith sat down next to Lance and Lance turned back to the plants. He took a deep breath, taking in the smell of Keith and closing his eyes. He let his wings relax more, letting them move out more. The two sat in silence for a good minute or two before Keith spoke up.

“So… is this what you’ve been doing in your free time recently?” Keith asked, and Lance opened his eyes again to look at Keith.

“For the most part, yeah.” Lance shrugged. “I still need to adjust to everything.”

“Oh, cool.” Keith nodded and scratched his arm. “And uhm… can you not look at me like that? You have that same passive look that the others give, and it feels very judgemental. It's just… an owl like stare.” 

Lance blinked before smiling and rubbing the back of his neck. “Hah, sorry Keith.”

“It’s…. Fine.” Keith fidgeted and looked down to his lap.

Lance hesitated before lifting his hand up and brushing back a black curl, tucking it behind Keith’s ear. He debated on actually saying something about how the light fell on Keith, making him look almost angelic. He blinked as the wind just ruffled Keith’s hair and made the curl fell back into place.

Keith looked up to Lance and his purple-ish gray eyes shined in the sunlight. It was breathtaking. 

“Do I have something on my face?” Keith frowned and put a hand to his cheek.

“No! It’s just funny how your hair seems to move back whenever I move it.” Lance lied.

“Oh.” Keith nods and looks away. “I guess… that’s funny.”

Lance could feel the hesitant amusement and slight disappointment lingering on Keith, and thought that maybe… Keith was interested in him. But that couldn’t be right… could it?

“My Prince.” A soft voice called from behind them, and they turned to see a small girl standing not too far from them. Her scales were pink and her feathers were brown and white, but almost mainly white. “Oh! And the Red Paladin!”

“Yes, Mei’ka?” Lance smiled at her. He recognized her as a Noble child.

“You’ve been requested in the Black Room.” She smiled and tilted her head, giving off an amused aura. He could feel how smug the girl was. “I believe its… for reasons I shouldn’t say out loud. Or… am I interrupting? I’m sure they wouldn’t mind waiting their turn?”

Lance took a moment to think about which room that was, and what she was insinuating. He sucked in a deep breath when he realized and he narrowed his eyes at her. She couldn’t know anything he didn’t know. Did she mean…?

“No, you’re fine, Mei’ka.” Keith stood up, and Lance could feel the awkward and confused aura. “If its important for your people, I shouldn’t interfere.”

Mei’ka let out a amused snort but shrugged. “As you wish.” She turned to Lance. “He’ll be awaiting you.”

And with that, Mei’ka left and Lance turned to Keith. 

“I’m sorry about her, some of them are really excited to see what will become of me and assume. I… should probably go. Shiro was asking for me. Probably about how we should go about things with my… new found issues.” Lance smiled awkwardly as he also got up.

“Oh, its fine. I’ll… see you later.” Keith gave a small smile.

“Yeah,” Lance gave a small wave as he turned. “See you.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mama and Jessica have a talk.
> 
> Shiro and Lance have a talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry guys, I'm in college and I've been hella busy.
> 
> But oh my god, I'm posting at 10am instead of 11pm?? What is this?
> 
> I wrote this while sitting in my college cafe waiting for my next class.
> 
> But this chapter is necessary information from Earth's side and Mama McClain explaining some good ol context. I know someone asked about this, and its ironic because the next chapter was legit what they asked. But Shiro talking to Lance is supposed to hint something about Adam that I need to be hinted at. And we just get more development of the Lance/Shiro tag. And btw, Lance is going to be turning 18 soon.
> 
> I have big plans for Adam before he dies.
> 
> Yeah, Adam is still gonna oof in this. This is not going to be compliant to the recent seasons for the most part. We're still going to have Lotor go bad and have them disappear and all, but Sendak is dead and you guys are gonna be punched in the gut when I finally write that season over and basically see who becomes the King/Queen of the Galra Empire and then what happens to Adam.
> 
> I'm just letting you know in advance, he dies of a natural cause. I have nothing against Adam besides he was an utter dick to Shiro. Adam is trying(tm) and he is going to get in what my opinion, is a redemption arc because tbh he wasn't my favorite character and he needs to be... a better person in this to work. Also, instead of him having a hissy fit because Shiro is sick and going to space, there's a good reason why he broke it off. So lol get ready for Adam's POV about it next echapter.

Jessica slowly approached her mother as she tended the garden. Her mother had her hair pulled up in a bun and she had overalls on, just like Jessica had. Seeing her mother like this reminded her of how youthful her mother could be.

“Mama.” Jessica called out once she was close enough. Her mother looked up and smiled at Jessica.

“Jessica.” Her mother leaned back onto her legs, watching Jessica as she sat down next to her. “What’s wrong, baby girl?”

“I wanted to ask about dad.” Jessica glanced to the side.

“What about your Papa? He’s in the house so you really didn’t have to come to me-” Her mother started but Jessica cut her off.

“No, Mama. Not Papa, my actual dad.” Jessica finally looked her mother in the eye. Her mother faltered and seemed hesitant. 

“Your Father…” Mama spoke slowly. “What do you want to know?”

“I know he wasn’t human. That is how me and Lance ended up like this.” Jessica motioned to the purple and red scales that were on her neck. “But I want to know his story. I want to know why we are different.”

“Your Father… came from a distant planet. He was a prince of beautiful and peaceful people. They were attacked one day and he fought until he was stranded in space. He crashed into Earth and we found him in our corn fields. We opened up his protective suit to find one of the most beautiful men me and your Papa had ever seen. We took him inside and nursed him until he woke up, and after that until he was well.” Mama smiled at her hands at the memories. “He told us that he was afraid he was the last of his people. Then he told us about Mates and the Prophecy his goddess gave him. He didn’t know which one of us was his Mate, but he told us it was one of us. We let him stay with us and we eventually all fell in love and his Goddess revealed to him from across the galaxy that we were both his Mates. We were the ones that would bare two of the saviors of the universe.”

“Me and Lance… we’re only two of them? What happened to dad?” Jessica understood what she was saying. It wasn’t that far fetched because of what Jessica was. 

“He got sick and died before you two were born. It was a shame, really. He wanted to see you two grow up and become the full fledge beauties he knew you two would be. He told us that eventually he needed you two to find his people, even if it meant risking everything to get off this planet. You two aren’t fully grown without his people.” Mama put her hand over Jessica’s and sighed. “That’s why… when Lance disappeared with the others, we were all afraid and sad, but we know that he is going to do great things.”

“Who else knows about this?” Jessica looked down. Her brother was safe…

“Katrina and Melissa. Your Abuelos, Tios, and Papa and I. Abuelita was scared but so proud when she heard what Lance did.” Mama raised her hand to brush it against Jessica’s cheek. “But Jessica… you can’t tell anyone about this, remember. I can bring you to his grave.”

Jessica nodded quickly and she could feel tears prick her eyes. The information felt overwhelming to her. 

Mama stood up and took Jessica’s hand, pulling her up. Mama lead Jessica out of the garden and the crop fields, past the cattle and all the way to the outskirts. There was a large oak tree that Jessica remembered seeing a few times as they did perimeter checks. Mama let go of her hand and walked up to the tree, slowly sinking down to her knees. She put her palm flat on the base of the tree trunk and smiled sadly at it.

“We buried him at this tree because he loved it. He crashed not too far from here. We had to get rid of the crops because they got contaminated and we never actually replanted this area.” Mama spoke quietly. “I hope wherever he ended up after death that he is happy and with his people and other family.”

Jessica slowly sat next to Mama and she could feel the sadness seep off of her mother and it made her almost choke on the lump in her throat. She could feel tears slowly sliding down her face as she pressed her hand to the trunk next to Mama’s. The air was thick with love, sadness, and forlorn energy. Mama truly loved him as much as Papa.

“Mama… when Lance gets home, we can bring him here so he can meet Dad.” Jessica smiled up at Mama, who nodded and hugged Jessica slowly.

“Of course. When Lance comes home, everything will be better.”

\--

Lance slowly pushed open Shiro’s door with one hand, his other coming up to lightly knock on the door.

“Shiro?” Lance called out as he stuck his head inside. He could see Shiro holding something in his hand, turning it over again and again. Shiro looked up when Lance called out to him and smiled. He was crying, Lance could see his eyes were tinted red and the air was heavy with the feeling of forgotten love and sadness.

“Hey… you finally got here.” Shiro smiled and wiped his face with his real arm and he put the object back into his pocket.

“Yeah, Mei’ka said it was important? I was talking to Keith before so I had to say my goodbyes.” Lance stepped in and shut the door behind him.

“Oh, I’m glad you two are talking properly. He was really scared and angry for a while. You gave him a scare.” Shiro turned his full body towards Lance as Lance sat down next to Shiro.

“Yeah, I apologized to him about it. But… are you okay?” Lance put a hand on Shiro’s robotic bicep in a supporting manor. He was trying to speak clearly through the heavy natural energy around Shiro and the sadness.

“I… I was engaged before I disappeared. You probably heard about it. I was engaged to Officer Adam W., your fight class teacher.” Shiro looked down.

“Yeah, we all knew about it and how you two decided to separate until you came home.” Lance nodded.

“I… sometimes I miss him.” Shiro’s voice became small and a part of Lance wanted to stop it and make him happy. To never use that small, insecure voice. “I still have my ring. It was the only thing the Galra let me keep from my old life. They thought it was some type of victory medal.” 

Lance watched as Shiro rubbed his face, taking in a deep breath.

“God I loved Adam. He was nice and understanding. He cared a lot about his cadets. He especially cared about you and your sister, Veronica. He talked highly about you two and he enjoyed watching you and Keith go head to head.” Shiro let out a small laugh that almost sounded like a hiccup. “He loved me so much… but when I said I was going to Kerberos, he suddenly took a step back like someone had slapped him in the face. He… it was like he knew that I was going to be captured or like all of this would happen.”

“What do you mean by that?” Lance put his arm around Shiro to try and comfort him. He could feel the anxiety from remembering it pulse off of him.

“He… said he didn’t want me to die or anything bad to happen. He knew I was sick… but he said that this could change life as we know it. I… he loved me but couldn’t be with me if I decided to take that path.” Shiro let out a shuddering breath before more tears spilled down his face. “He knew something bad would happen and I didn’t listen to him and I lost him…”

Lance nodded and did what his instinct told him, and he rubbed his face against Shiro’s shoulder. He could feel Shiro relax and something clicked inside of Lance’s head. This felt so right, like sitting next to Keith and talking about anything. Was this what it is like to actually feel connected to someone?

“Shiro… I know it’s hard, sometimes people just know things like this will happen. Adam didn’t want to see you hurt, and you both argued over it because you both care. He loves you and when we get back to Earth, he’ll be there to welcome us all back.” Lance spoke softly and smiled. “Life plays games like this and we just have to win.”

“Thanks, Lance.” Shiro pat his head and ruffled his hair softly, and Lance beamed.

This felt right, and Lance didn’t know how to explain their connection, but he was sure that if he asked Meeli, she would tell him.

“Hey, let’s go eat. I’m think Hunk was cooking earlier.” Lance smiled and started to stand up, but Shiro grabbed onto his hand to stop him.

“Can… can we just stay in here a little longer? I think I got off track and I just need comfort.” Shiro was showing him weakness, and this made Lance’s heart swell as he looked down at Shiro’s steel eyes.

“Of course.” Lance sat back down and wrapped his arms around Shiro.

“Thank you.” Shiro whispered as he hugged Lance back.

“You’re welcome, Shiro.”


End file.
